Israeli Aircraft Continue Raids on Gaza; Arab Anger Rises

The New York Times today reports that

In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a “closed military zone.”

According to George Dwell, Public Relations Contact for the Indiana "Yes We Can" Coalition for Peace and Justice,

The people of Gaza were already suffering horribly under the Israeli blockade. As the United Nations pointed out on November 19, 2008, 'the restrictions deprived Palestinians of "basic human rights". The use of Israeli state power against the Palestinian people is illegal under international law, and is a human tragedy of immense proportions.

According to the New York Times, "The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said more than 50 of the dead were civilians...."

The article continued "In a statement on Monday, the Israeli army said some areas around Gaza had been declared a “closed military zone,” a move which some analysts depicted as a potential precursor to a ground offensive."

Frank Berzimla, member of the Communist Party of Indiana CPUSA, said "The issue of the Israeli attacks on Gaza is not an issue of Israel fighting for its life. The Israeli attacks are applications of disproportionate state force against an oppressed people living under a blockade, and who have endured unending oppression since Israel started seizing Palestinian land, controlling the natural resources in the area, attacking every manifestation of real self-determination on the part of the Palestinians, and generally acting as a proxy for US imperial aspirations in this oil rich area. It is incorrect to see this through the lens of a Muslim/Jewish conflict. It would be more appropriate to see the Palestinian struggle in Gaza and in Palestine as a whole as an anti-imperialist struggle akin to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa or the struggle of African states against the yoke of colonial exploitation."

The Indiana "Yes We Can" Coalition for Peace and Justice calls for all-out protests across Indiana to say "No Invasion of Gaza; Stop the Bombings; End US economic and military support for Israeli Aggression".